After showing up to Friday’s game against the Lakers in a Slayer shirt, Russell Westbrook is trying to show he’s heavy even though he looks like an outcast from an 80s version of Annie. Are those leggings?! And I guarantee whatever he’s listening to isn’t Reign in Blood… Westy is always trying to be fashion-y, but while he spent Friday night and Saturday cutting holes in some other band’s T-Shirt for his next statement, he overlooked the Blazers and The Omen! Damian Lillard just went mad ham on Westbrook, going 31/7/9/2/0 with 8 treys, including 5 down the stretch for a comeback win. This was after going rainbow on the Warriors Friday night for 40/3/10/2/2 and 6 treys. Hopefully these stats don’t lie, and the plantar fascia is healed up for Lillard to be healthy the rest of the way. However, it is a concern as the Blazers have shown caution holding him out so long and they’re obviously not a playoff team. Hell, they even sat C.J. McCollum with no injury at all! If you’re a top playoff team with great PG stats, I might ride this Omen streak a few more weeks then sell to try to minimize some risk. A big argument in my high Lillard rank was his durability, but with a lingering injury like plantar fascia, it could easily crop back up by late-March and April and cost us games. Here’s what else went down over the weekend in fantasy hoops action, and The 7 Ahead for week 12:

DeMar DeRozan – Kicked off the weekend in style! 35/8/1/1/1 with 12-13 FT in a win against the Wiz, but came back down to Earth in a W against the Sixers. FT volume/FT %/Pts/Ast all sit at career-highs right now.

Shane Larkin – All I can think about with Larkin failing is Finkle as Einhorn yelling at Ventura. “WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT PRESSURE?!” Although let’s hope no Vikings fans are reading this right now… Eesh… Larkin was decent against the Magic on Friday for 12/4/3/1/0 with a trey, but did commit 4 TO. Then was awful Saturday night, going a mad quiet 8/1/3/0/0 and getting benched in the second half. In favor of…

Donald Sloan – …my boy! I lovvvvvved watching Sloan for the Pacers last year when he got a shot, but was quickly swept aside as an afterthought. In only 24 minutes in that loss to Detroit, Sloan picked up a dimebag for a 15/2/10 line with a couple of treys. Only way to survive a trip to DET is to be sure you have a dimebag!

Bojan Bogdanovic – BoBo going the way of the Dodo. Went 0-6 in 30 starting minutes against the Magic, with it so bad he lost his starting job to Markel Brown on Saturday. Then goes 0-5 off the bench in that one. The Nets SG position continues to be a Bermuda Triangle. No one makes it back alive! Including Lionel Hollins!

Aaron Gordon – SKIIIIIIILES! FIIIIIINALLY! Although to be fair, Gordon has gotten minutes before and just hadn’t done enough. But a nice weekend it twas with 14/5/1 and 10/10/1/2/0 lines, hitting over 50% of his shots with 1.5 treys a game. Channing Frye is fryinally losing minutes, but this is SKIIIIIILES we’re talking about here. I’m not banking on consistent run. That said, Gordon should be owned in all 12ers.

Anthony Davis – Dude. Brow. Camon! Jumped into the crowd for a loose ball, and the fragile big hurt his back. Only got through 3 minutes against the Pacers Friday and sat last night. You’ve gotta be smarter than that, Brow, fantasy hoops needs you, not the Pelicans! Nawleans isn’t going anywhere! Although knowing the Pels, Brow will be on a 25-minutes limit when he returns, and Gentry will play him all 48.

Alexis Ajinca – Filled in Friday for 4/12/3/5/1 and became a popular weekend add. Unfortunately even with Brow out, only 14 minutes of mehhhh last night.

Jrue Holiday – Patience is a virtue! 29/11/4/3/0 with a trey against the Clip, getting crazy USG in 36 minutes. If I was a Jrue owner, I’d hope for a hot week then sell, sell, sell! I’m still worried about the injuries. Not to make you feel blue on Jrue.

Wesley Johnson – I added him for some Sat/Sun weekend streaming, and Saturday was poopy. Luckily I got a 15/4/2/5/0 line with 3 treys yesterday afternoon against the Pelicans. The Pelicans have stolen my will to live, so it’s fitting Wes J would get some swipes for me in that one…

Ian Mahinmi – Had a really strong run to open the year before tailing off, but he’s playing his tail off right now! MaybeMyles Turner returning has lit that fire! 17/10/1/0/4 and 13/7/1/1/1 over the weekend, and he’s a 68% FT shooter over his last 22 games now. As his owner in REL, I could give him a big fat French kiss for that turnaround!

John Henson – Speaking of FT-issue bigs, Henson goes 16/3/1/1/1 on 8-9 shooting Friday against the Mavs, only to play 9 minutes of nothingball against the Knicks. Apparently Jason Kidd is still coaching this team in absentia.

Michael Carter-Williams – MCW also had a dramatic up-and-down weekend, going 15/12/8/5/1 against the Mavs but fell wayyyyy back down to Earth for 4/5/6/2/0 last night. That stifling… Jose Calderon defense???

Iman Shumpert – If it was Shumpert defense, it’d be more acceptable! The D-specialist had his O-face on Friday night, going 23/3/1/4/0 against the Wolves, but only 2 Pts in 17 mins against the Sixers. I bet that was a streaming matchup a lot of people used off the hot game… Unfortunately Shump’s stats fall off cliffs steeper than the sides of his flat top.

Andrew Wiggins – Played well against the team who drafted him, going 35/3/3/1/1 on 12-19 FG (3-7 3PTM 8-12 FT) in 39 minutes. This was an absolute romp by the Cavs winning by 26, so I imagine a decent piece of this line was in garbage time. Followed it up with a decent 21/7/3/2/0 last night with a trey, and the steals and a handful of blocks have been there lately. Keep hope alive! Or, My Heart Will Go On! Since ya know, Celine Dion is Canadian…

Will Barton – Had three straight reallllllly rough games, to finally bounce back with an… OK game? 10/8/3/0/0 with 3 TO is actually not that great either, but did hit 3 treys. With Danilo Gallinari back in the swing plus the return of Emmanuel Mudiay last night (39 minutes at that! Talk about running your gimpy rookie to the bone!), I worry about Barton’s falling usage. He played 29:44, but still hasn’t cracked 30 mins these past 4 either.

Nikola Jokic – 9 dimes last night in only 23 minutes for your weird stat of the weekend… Hey when Mudiay is your PG and Jameer Nelson sits with a hip flexor, someone has to step up to facilitate!

Jusuf Nurkic – The Jamba Juice is going sour… Wasn’t able to build off the big game against the Wolves with 6/6/0/0/1 and 7/7/0/1/1 lines over the weekend. I’m still holding in a few 12ers, but if you need the production now or you have unlimited streaming moves, I’d have trouble holding on.

Zach Randolph – Huge weekend from T-Dog, who is embracing his bench role. 24/6/1/0/3 and 25/13/2/1/2 making 14-16 FT, with these blocks a welcome aberration. Maybe it’s easier for him to rack up those swats against second units!

Mario Chalmers – With Mike Conley sitting out again with his Achilles, Rio has had three straight usable games wrapping up with an 18/5/4/2/0 line last night with 11-13 FT. He hasn’t shot from the field that well these past two, but the FT volume can protect it. If Conley sits any more, you gotta try and stream Rio where you can.

Kristaps Porzingis – Kristaps! Poison Geese! Kristaps! Poison Geese! 28/11/0/1/0 on Friday, and just when you’re like “what about dem D stats?!” goes 15/6/2/1/5 on Sunday. Plus 5 treys over those two games, after hitting only 3 his previous 6 games. Getting so poisonous again!

Danny Green – The grass is always Greener on the other side! And by other side, I mean you had to wait until Jan 8 to get any sort of pulse from the guy… 8/4/3/2/3 for a rainbow against the Knicks Saturday night, but you gotta love the 11 and 14 minutes he got the games before this one… I’m still turning the other cheek.

Hassan Whiteside – Scary week from the league leader in blocks, missing a game and dealing with knee tendinitis. But after two subpar games off that DNP, Whiteside finally got on his strongside for 10/11/0/1/4. And you know Whiteside is fully back if he goes 2-6 FT. The Whiteside we know and love!

Draymond Green – Didn’t get a tripdub his last time out, but 25/9/4/2/2 on 8-12 FG (5-6 3PTM 4-6 FT) is acceptable. Passable. It’ll do. “That’ll do pig! That’ll do…”

Lou Williams – Sooooooo sweet! Drops 44 against the Thunder including 23 in the 4th quarter, almost giving the Lakers an improbable win Friday night. Followed it up with a cold shooting night last night, but still goes 18/8/6/2/0 with 7-9 FT. The 6 TO weren’t so sweet, but you need some salty to balance it out…

Jeremy Lin – After going 26/4/4 Saturday against the Clip sans Nicolas Batum, fell way back down to only 2/1/2 in 24 minutes shooting 0-9 last night with Nic back. Everyone hates Nic-el-back!

Jeremy Lamb – Stayed productive without then with Batum, posting 18/13/0/1/1 Saturday then 15/8/3/1/0 last night. The minutes have been way up the past 6 of 7, with one low-run game where Clifford the Big Red Dog benched Lamb for bad defense, even though he was doubtful before that game with two injuries. Way to rag on your gimpy guy, Cliff! I will mention that Lamb had Gary Harris absolutely torch him on a drive for an easy dunk at one point, so I could see the Lamb minutes waffle again. Lamb waffles… That sounds awful!

Nikola Mirotic – Niiiiiii-kola! Reeeeeeee-surgence! 24/10/1/1/2 against the Hawks, but dear lord he’s just a pillar of salt on defense. I saw this defender thing for basketball coaches on Shark Tank that plays better defense:

Niko the Profender? More like Niko the D-Leaguefender! But hey, for now the stats look good for fantasy, so ride it while hot and the Bulls has won 6 in a row before that loss to ATL…

Al Horford – Behemoth #2 was even better for 33/10/6/1/4. Yet again a monster line with no TO. Yet again crazy good FG% (15-21). Yet again another trey. Yet again I start crying when seeing his stats, as I don’t own him anywhere.

Jeff Teague – Limped off and looked like he was in pretty bad pain early against the Bulls, but was able to return. Before he came back, I panic-searched for Dennis Schroder on all my wires. Schrodes was solid with a little extra run with the first unit (both filling in for Teague and running a tandem with him in the 2nd half at times) for 13/5/8/2/1 and a couple of treys. Coach Butthole must’ve really motivated him after sitting him forShelvin Mack! Teague has had more problems with kankles than Rosie O’Donnell these past few years, so Schroder I think is worth a spec add even in 12ers if you have an open spot.

Paul George – Thief! 7 steals @HOU last night in a 20/6/4/7/2 rainbow in the OT loss. Hit 3 treys, but 4-23 3PTM the last 3 games ain’t gonna cut it, with 4+ TO in the past 3 as well. Definitely some bad with the good, but he’s not a leper like Slim makes him out to be.

Ish Smith – Three good, two bad, and now four good again for Ish in his Sixers chronicle. 28/5/4/3/0 and 18/7/10/1/0 over the weekend, while hitting 3 treys – a lacking part of his game. He’s looking like a 50ish valued player here on out. Scary. Friggin’ Sixers.

Gordon Hayward – Once he finally put on his big boy pants and started scoring like the franchise player he is, it cost us everywhere else! 34/4/1/0/0 Saturday night, but with 8 TO and on 4-10 FT shooting! What gives, Gordon?! Luckily got it back together for 25/2/2/0/3 last night, cut it down to 3 TO, and hit 4-6 FT. Nothing like playing the Lakers to get you rejuvenated!

Rudy Gobert – Coming along, albeit slowly. 9/5/4/1/4 and 10/5/1/1/3 over the weekend in 28 then 30 minutes. The low boards are a little odd, but loving the D stats.

Chris Johnson – Picked up a start with Rodney Hood missing a game, and got a rainbow! 14/4/3/2/2 with 2 treys in a win against the Heat, but Hood came back last night pushing CJnoK to a bench role. Still got a 6/8/1/2/0 line while shooting a terrible 3-11. Hey, at least he remains a big part of the rotation! Could be a useful deep league streamer, and definitely someone to keep on your radar as Hood has had a myriad of injuries.

Overall Thoughts: Ugh, awful week for weekly leagues! Two teams on 2-gamers, and two teams on 1-gamers?! Awful! Luckily there’s a good stable of 4-game week teams to fill out weekly lock lineups. On the streaming side, I lovvvvve Gerald Green this week. There’s some injured shoulders on the wing in Miami, and it’s a 4-game West Coast road trip. Shabazz is also a favorite – Wolves play @HOU and PHO for two nice high-pace games, then two games against OKC. Blowout alert! He’s been playing really well as it is, plus upside for added run. As mentioned below, I could see Dwight sitting a game at the end of the week, and bigs destroy Lakers – gotta like Capela a lot. And even with Bradley Beal possibly playing by the weekend, I think Temple gets enough run to stay usable as a low-end streamer.

Monday: We kick off with an exceeding light Monday, with only 3 games to open the week. In RCLs it will be too late to add anyone for Monday’s games by the time you read this, so hopefully you had a move left at the end of last week for some early streaming. CHI and SA head into back-to-backs – very concerning for your Spurs – so be sure to check in at tip since this is an awful game for them. The Spurs go @BKN in the post-Hollins era, and this could be an ugly one. I would only feel good streaming bench Spurs in deeper leagues – Boris Diaw comes to mind. [email protected] should be a nice blowout game for streaming, I see a big one for Gerald Green with Dwyane Wade ailing with a shoulder injury and he might not play a ton if it gets out of hand early. Finally we get [email protected] for a possible playoff preview, Taj Gibson should get decent run if Joakim Noah sits one more out tonight. Garrett Temple remains a big part of the Wiz rotation – I could see giving him a spin as well as I mention above.

Tuesday: Fairly busy 8-game slate on Tuesday, and a reminder that the Spurs are in their second of a b2b, so check in on your vets there. BOS, DAL, HOU, IND, MIL, MIN, NO, NY & OKC all head into b2bs, so there’s a lot of early-week quick turnarounds – keep an eye on all your vets there. [email protected] might be the worst game ever – but should feature a lot of scoring. The Lakers give up huge games to big men, so if there’s still no Brow, Alexis Ajinca could be an option even though he’s off a dud. [email protected] should also feature a lot of pace if you want to stream some available scorers in that one.

Wednesday: Like every Wednesday in the NBA, it’s a busy one. Thankfully we only have to keep an eye on GSW, SAC, and UTA vets heading into b2bs for Thursday. If Derrick Favors has returned by Wednesday, it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see him sit Thurs. With 20 teams active and only 10 off, you’re playing your regulars.

Thursday: 6 games on Thursday is a little higher than usual, but with Saturday and Sunday both rife for streaming, I’m not putting in too many moves this Thursday. CHI & CLE are your only back-to-back teams, so keep an eye on those guys. On light schedule nights, if Philly is active I immediately look for streaming on the other side. Tony Snell had one of his best games on the season last time v. Philly, so I bet he gets some burn. If Bobby Portis is out there, I like him a ton too. Mmmmm, [email protected] Should be a great one – let’s see if the Spurs can stay undefeated at home. Lakers are probably getting run out of the gym by the Warriors, so maybe the Lakers younguns get a little more time.

Friday: Back to a busy night, with ATL, BOS, BKN, CHA, MIL, POR & WAS opening the weekend on b2bs. If your line-up isn’t full on Friday night, I might try some weekend stacking with those teams for Fri/Sat games. CLE after playing a tough game @SA immediately play @HOU. I could see the Rockets taking that one and I’d play as many Rox as I could.

Saturday: A fairly light Saturday this week, with 8 teams active. Your only Sat/Sun b2b stack is the Lakers this week. Larry Nance Jr. has tapered off a little, but he’s widely available if you could use a dubdub threat. Brandon Bass would be another guy a little further off-the-radar – Lakers play @UTA then HOU, both teams that like to play big. [email protected] should be a terrible game, but lots of streaming options there. Gimme the Allen Crabbe!

Sunday: We wrap up with 5 games on Sunday, which I imagine will determine a lot of matchups with the lighter scheduling this week. DAL and HOU go into b2bs to start Monday next week – [email protected] is too big a game to sit your Mavs, but the Rockets play @LAL Sunday then @LAC Monday. I could see Dwight Howard sitting Sunday while getting barraged by boos. He’s been an enigma all year, but if Howard does sit, Terrence Jones would be a strong play in that one. [email protected] should be a fun game with the little bit of history there, but the other big game for streaming for me is [email protected] The Wolves are giving up a ton of points and the Suns love to play quick. Ending strong with a Shabazz stream for daily moves, as I like him a ton this week.

I hope everyone had a strong first week of 2016, and looking forward to week 12. Thanks for dropping by, Razzball Nation!

JB, I am first out of 12 in my 9 cat and could use some suring up in threes as I’m ranked 8th currently. I have plenty of big men (Drummond, Jordan, Kanter, Scola) and can acquire JR Smith or Rodney Hood for Robin Lopez in a trade. Which would you accept? Thanks

@Brian: My 2 cents, I would definitely trade Rolo for JR. He’ll get you more 3s and you can take his hit on fg% with all of your big men. The Jazz are only going to be getting more bodies back and the Cavs are at full strength which has only helped JR. Maybe you could upgrade a big for a player like Klay, Ariza or McCollum too to boost your 3s.

@Brian: @Matt: I’d be good getting either, I think JR is safer. Hood has more upside. but Hood has injury concern plus Burks coming back down the road. I’m good going either way – in first I might go safer with JR to keep coasting.

No one should be surprised by the Nurkic minutes. This is going to continue for a while too, at least he played a little next to Jokic. The future in Denver looks pretty bright.

How about 29 minutes from Rashad Vaughn?
2/10/2/2/1/1 on 50% shooting, 2/3 FTs, with no TOs and even played crunch time minutes with MCW benched and Middleton running the point. I know no Mayo and no Bayless but still, it was nice to see. The kid is going to be a good one, but then again I’ve been enamored with him since we did our mock NBA draft and it’s only gotten stronger since.

i wouldn’t even think about dropping Nurkic. Jokic is playing well, but he’s so up and down. Nurk will eventually get the starting job back once the rust kicks off – he looks absolutely dominant out there on defense and the boards (ffs dREB% is above 30%). but he’s just chucking stuff at the rim on offense WAY too casually. that’ll eventually work itself out, i imagine.

@Slim: @kb: Yeah in RCL with weekly cap moves, I’m gonna hold a while. But kb, in a 12er where you could stream 7 games outta a hodgepodge off the wire, 3 or 4 of Nurk being bleh for a bit isn’t worth holding onto.

@kb: I’ve got him on one RCL and I’m in no hurry to move on, but that doesn’t mean I think he’ll sniff 30 minutes with any regularity this year. In limited minutes he might be able to flirt with top 100 value but I kind of doubt it. Yeah %s aren’t gonna be pretty and with all the time off I don’t expect it to work itself out without a healthy offseason to practice. Next year he’ll be pre-draft ranked inside the top 75 I imagine.

Great breakdown, especially for the week ahead. It’s a weird one for scheduling as Monday is super light and Tuesday is a bit heavier than usual. Then six games on Thursday…what ever happened to the TNT Thursday night monopoly? It was just a nationally televised double-header and that’s all we had as options.

I suppose this would be a good week for me to buy NBA LeaguePass as my Raps only play once and that means a LOT of hockey on the sports channels we get up here – no bueno.

Got one quick question for ya: In my 8-cat weekly lock league, I’m torn between the following four guys to occupy my utility spots:

@JB Gilpin: Haha – yeah, had to make it so Akshay knew whose advice to take since we had differing opinions. I believe I gave you props for being “a swell guy” though, so that ain’t nothin’!

Thanks for the advice. I’m leaning Ryno/Booker as well, even though I’m pretty certain Hornacek will inexplicably restrict his starters to 14 minutes during one of the three games this week. I hate the Suns and their rotation so much. Hornacek thinks he’s “playing the matchups” but they’re losing regardless of what he does, so why not just play the guys you want to develop (i.e. Len, Booker, Warren) consistent minutes and let them get the experience going up against under/over-sized opposition at times? Drives me nuts.

Great write-up, as always. I have Batum coming back off IR and need to drop someone to make room for him (12 team, 9 cat h2h). Who is your pick as a cut candidate: Larkin, Porits, M.Smart, A. Gordon, Dieng?

@Nick: Wow, I’d rather have Millsap than either! Well, maybe not Griffin in dynasty, you’re right… Yeah it hurts BLK a smidge, but Ibaka is starting to get up there more in minutes played than age. I’d move Ibaka for Trillsap

Thanks! Looks like he prefers Griffin (naturally). I likely wouldn’t do it straight up, but would it be savvy of me to get Harrison Barnes in the deal? Barnes was looking good pre-injury and could get a hefty raise playing somewhere else on a team that would feature him more.

Hey JB you do great job with you daily NBA updates. I’m in a 10 tean H2H 9-cat league and I need your advice. I am currently thinking of dropping Sullinger because his minutes and production have been trending downwards and /or Robin Lopez. I am strong at PG, SG, SF so I could really use a player with rebounding, blocks and/or steals. I am contemplating picking up Aaron Gordon, Larry Nance, Matt Barnes, Kelly Olynyk, Bobby Portis or Tony Allen. Would you replace Sullinger and/or RoLo with any of these players? Thanks for the help!

@Tony C: Thanks so much man! Seems like Matt Barnes fits those needs. Gordon could, but I still dunno if it’s consistent enough. Struggling with who to drop, probably Rolo before Sully since Sully kills him in REB. So yeah, Rolo can go for Barnes. Any time!

@JB Gilpin: the horford owner wants millsap in return lol and I kinda don’t wana have millsap and horford both cuz of the playoff sched. But yeh I defs need a PG in return. any other players I can target?

I have too many PG’s on my team so I got an offer of my Jeff Teague for Jonas Valanciunas. Is it close enough to pull the trigger? I’m afraid of Teague’s ankle problems being there all season has that’s what happens with multiple rolls on it.

I don’t really blame you for leaving out my boy JC, but his 4 steals against the Jazz won me my H2H matchup by 1 steal!!

Is Toby Harris droppable in shallow leagues? He has been epically bad recently, and with only 1 game this week I doubt anyone grabs him right away. Beal, Avery Bradley, and Hood are all available, but if Brow doesn’t play I might need to go after fg% and blocks.

Man, if Noah hit even 3 of his 7 shots today, his line would’ve been sweet! Those 9brds and 4asts in such little time show his per-min upside when healthy. He’s still a hold over guys like Zeller, Barnes, Mahinmi, Jokic, A Johnson (dude’s been ballin) in my 14cat (9 team) roto? Just need some nice O brds and multi cat with D.

I could top up on ast or reb but otherwise no particular needs and pretty good %s. Currently have 2 spots available and was thinking of grabbing some assists (permanent pick up) and streaming boards. I picked up Iguodala and Danny Green yesterday.

Just wanting your opinion on what position I may be lacking on my 14cat roto squad. My initial thoughts are dropping a wing (Barton or Tobias) for a currently producing big, to improve my lagging fg% – or for Casspi, who still brings in good %s:

Danny Green is trash. Gotta drop this dude in 12ers evens in 14ers I think. Upside too good but damn batshit sucky this year.

That said, interesting thought for you bud, Covington or Danny Green? I’m going Covington as damn you gotta know that Brown would want to go renegade and actually be competitive in games.

Also, I’d do Sloan over Larkin. Larkin was the starting PG over the Knicks few years back and he didn’t do anything with that. Sloan on the otherhand was usable last year with the Pacers. Lil Jack-like stats but at least the stats would be useful. Can’t wait for the pod bud! Cheers!

@draco21: Hah yeah I agree with all of that… Tough season. Yeah I’ll go Covington, more upside there. Well Larkin played a lot of combo G and SG too . If BKN was at all in the race I would say Sloan too, but I think they develop Larkin to see what they have. And yeah, i rave about Sloan, I like him a ton as a player! But he’s not a rebuild fit and see if he could be your starter, I think Larkin fits that. Thanks for listening man!